Mary Morris, a 16-year-old Central High School sophomore, is part of the Drury Scholars program which is trying to raise African-American student achievement. Nathan Papes/News-Leader

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Mary Morris dreams of some day operating on patients as a neurologist.

The Central High School sophomore chose her path as a fifth-grader after she read, “Healing Hands: The Story of Dr. Benjamin Carson.” The book recounted his path to success that included leading the first surgical team to separate twins conjoined at the head.

Morris’ aspirations reflect her belief that her dreams deserve the entire sky to romp and play in, rather than a patch of blue and narrowed hopes many African Americans here inherited from a difficult past.

Morris and dozens of other African-American students in the Drury Scholars program have been trying to break that cycle by aiming high, scoring higher on standardized tests and claiming a future they designed rather than one left to them by circumstance.

“It’s definitely a good feeling to know there are people believing you will succeed, people who see your potential,” Morris said. “I believe I can do anything I put my mind to.”

But this effort isn’t just building futures. It’s indirectly mending decades-old racial wounds. Though the program’s coordinator, Francine Pratt, is African American, three white men affiliated with Drury University designed and launched the program: Bruce Callen, associate dean of the college; Peter Meidlinger, professor of English; and Mark Wood, professor of chemistry.

They have drawn people from across the community and across racial lines to help a segment of students who have for years scholastically lagged behind their white peers.

It is proof, they said, that the community can indeed wrap its arms around kids with the right leadership and the political will.

The Scholars program began in 2008 as a summer enrichment program for African-American middle school males. It has since expanded to include young females, tripling in size and offering year-round activities.

Pratt accepted the program coordinator position in July.

She said the students, from the seventh grade to the 12th grade, get intense tutoring, ACT preparation work, self-esteem building sessions and college campus tours. They learn to live up to expectations, not live down to their circumstances, she said.

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Her syllabus or “playbook” is a sheet of paper with their name, age, and other personal information. Below that, students chart their future under these headings:

• “Where am I now?”

• “What do I want to do?”

• “List five things I need to do to get there and one thing I’m going to change in the next 30 days to help me get there.”

“I let what they want to do, drive them,” Pratt said. “We keep drilling it down to their passion.”

But in the decades since a 1906 lynching of three black men on the Springfield town square, generations of African Americans here dared not dream.

By the 2009-2010 school year, according to the Drury website, a report produced by Springfield Public Schools said African-American students made up 7.5 percent of high school students but 4 percent of the students in the district that took the ACT. White students made up 83 percent of the students who took the ACT, and 86 percent of public school students. Additionally, white students scored five points higher on the ACT than their African-American counterparts.

“We saw a need and really thought we could do something about it,” Callen said.

Morris said she’s made several college tours, visited museums and had conversations with business CEOs. She’s trying to decide between the University of Missouri-Kansas City, UCLA and Johns Hopkins University.

“Being in the Drury Scholars program is like one of the best opportunities you can be given,” Morris said. “We’re challenged on a day-to-day basis. We’re showing we’re not the stereotypical African Americans people may think we are.”

This is not Baltimore, Pratt said of the Maryland city where she once ran a state agency. This is not a place where 76 percent of black male students drop out by the ninth grade. It’s not a place where families and schools have failed children.

“If we can get ahold of this now, we can make this work for everyone,” she said.

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

The News-Leader’s ongoing Every Child project aims to focus attention on critical challenges facing children in our community. This quarter, we’re examining less visible social issues, cultural challenges, customs and beliefs that impact children here.

Today’s focus: Low expectations for children

Solution: Drury Scholars Program

Number of children served annually: 40 to 50

Budget: Earlier this year, it received an $84,511 challenge grant from the Missouri Department of Education